| Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989. | | | |
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| | | NUMBER: | 862 |
| AUTHOR: | Ovid (43 B.C.–A.D. 18) |
| QUOTATION: | A man is sorry to be honest for nothing. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | OVID.—Henry T. Riley, A Dictionary of Latin and Greek Quotations, Proverbs, Maxims and Mottos, p. 138 (1876).
This is a translation of Ovid’s “gratis paenitet esse probum” from his Ex Ponto, book 2, chapter 3. The translation in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 15th ed., p. 114 (1980) reads: “It is annoying to be honest to no purpose.” |
| SUBJECTS: | Honesty |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia | | |
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